Forty Days Without Shadow by Olivier Truc

Author:Olivier Truc
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2014-04-07T21:00:00+00:00

32

Thursday, January 20

11:30 a.m., Police Headquarters, Kautokeino

Klemet glanced at his watch and realized he had to get back to the station. He had stayed at his uncle’s house for as long as he could, but now it was time to confront Nina. Running away was not an option. He promised his uncle he would be back before the vultures, took his leave of Miss Chang, who waved cheerily, and set out along the road back to town, driving at an abnormally cautious speed.

He took a deep breath before knocking on Nina’s office door, then entered, his opening phrase at the ready. He stood staring open-mouthed at what he saw. She was there, hands stuffed into the pockets of her navy-blue police fatigues. But her office was transformed. Copies of the expedition photographs were arranged on the wall opposite her desk. A dozen reproductions of Sami drums were taped to the windows. Photographs of all the protagonists encountered so far were pinned to a large board resting on an easel. She had even found some Sami music online and was playing it on her computer, to add to the mood. The office had become an operations center.

“You’re forgiven,” said Nina brightly, leaving Klemet no time to mumble his excuses. “Next time you’ll get my fist in your face. Now, look at this.”

Taking one hand out of her pocket, she led him over to Henri Mons’s photographs. Klemet was dumbfounded—as much by her work as by her reaction to him. She had decided to keep control of the situation by taking the initiative. Once again he was left speechless, out of his depth.

“Nina, I just wanted to––”

“Don’t make things any more complicated, please, Klemet. Now, look at these photos.”

He went along with it, feeling relieved, in fact. He concentrated on the pictures, especially the fifteen shots of members of the expedition.

“So, what do you see?”

Nina seemed excited. She must have found something. Which would explain why she was in such a hurry to forget last night’s incident.

“No idea yet,” he said, looking closely at each picture. “I’m thinking. But I can tell you something. Niils, the man with the four-pointed hat—his family name was Labba. Ring any bells?”

“Mattis’s father?”

“His grandfather.”

Nina’s eyes opened wide in astonishment. She seemed to be thinking fast.

“So Mattis’s grandfather was in possession of a drum that was stolen seventy years later, and which may have caused the death of his grandson.”

“Don’t take short cuts, Nina.”

“Sure. But it’s bizarre all the same. The drum goes off to France for seventy years. And a few days after it’s returned to its place of origin, the original owner’s grandson is murdered. Klemet, do you really believe we’re still dealing with a vendetta between reindeer rustlers?”

He was silent for a moment, mulling over the problem, looking at the pictures.

“Well?” she asked.

Klemet remembered the detail that had struck him on the photographs he had taken to his uncle’s house.

“There’s a metal detector in one of the pictures. They were searching for ore. I think the drum, or the expedition, may be linked to the existence of a gold seam.

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